New York Etiquette Guide

E-Mail Gaffes: How to Recover Quickly If One Happens to You

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By Jeremy Willinger

They are universal mistakes: We press the send key too early, cc someone we should not have, or our attempts at sarcasm or humor are misread. Email, for all its benefits, can prove to be a minefield unlike any other. 

Avoiding e-mail gaffes boils down to two key precautions, though they may seem at odds with the very nature of this quick and convenient form of communication. The first is to always edit and self-censor. Though people expect a quick response to e-mail requests, reviewing your messages gives you the opportunity to clarify/remove content that could be misunderstood. One tip for important e-mails is to write the response, save it as a draft, and return to the message after working on another project. The time between writing and sending may help crystallize your thoughts, avoiding duplicate e-mails and any potential e-mail pitfalls.

The second caveat is to be as detailed as possible. People will often write general e-mail messages that force the reader to guess at what they are referring to. Sending e-mails with explicit instructions reduces the need for follow-up notes asking for clarification. This streamlines the workday and saves everyone valuable time.

But what happens when the inevitable occurs? Even the most diligent e-mail maven will send a message prematurely. The best tip is to act quickly to rectify the mistake. If a message was sent too early—and you won’t be sending the corrected message immediately thereafter—send a follow-up note with “Disregard E-mail Titled <Your Subject>” in the subject line. When you eventually send the corrected version, the subject line should be “<Your Subject> (Revised)” or “<Your Subject> (Please Use This Version).” This informs the reader as to which message should be read, without any guesswork. E-mail etiquette dictates that you make amends, so the first line of the corrected e-mail should say something to the effect of, “Please see corrected e-mail below. Thank you for your patience.”

If you accidentally cc a colleague who is not part of the project, a simple second e-mail with “Disregard E-mail Titled <Your Subject>” will usually suffice. However, if you have copied a contact who should not be privy to the information in the e-mail, it must be immediately reported to your supervisor. A phone call to the contact should follow, with an explanation that they were inadvertently copied on an email and to please delete the message.

Probably the most heart-stopping e-mail blunder is when a letter is accidentally copied to someone about whom disparaging remarks have been made in the mail.  This can happen when a chain of e-mails, involving several people, has been ongoing, and the ridiculed person’s address is still in the “reply all” line. In this event, certain systems feature a “recall” option, but it works only if the letter has not yet been opened by the recipient. If still in their inbox unread, it’s removed. If opened, you’re just out of luck—and have perhaps learned an important lesson.

Generally, e-mail is not the place to show off your humor or sarcasm to colleagues—unless that type of relationship already exists. Frequently, we write with a tone or quirky attitude in our head, and while we may get the joke, chances are, it will be lost on your recipients, or taken as ditziness.

Keeping these simple tips in mind will be helpful when the unavoidable occurs, and go a long way toward maintaining the cordial and professional relationships you have worked so hard to foster.